Former Australia spinner Brad Hogg recently backed Prithvi Shaw to make a Test comeback and suggested his name to replace Cheteshwar Pujara in the Test team. Responding to a user on Twitter, Hogg said that instead of KL Rahul, Team India should go with Shaw, who should replace the number 3 batsman.

Shaw isn’t part of the Test team now and is in Sri Lanka, where he is likely to make his T20I debut. Hogg’s backing to Shaw surprised many as the youngster is a full-time opener while Pujara is a middle-order batsman. Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, who is a full-time cricket expert now, also reacted to Hogg’s suggestion and trolled the former Australia spinner.

Speaking on his Youtube channel, Butt highlighted the fact that they are contrasting batsmen and said: “At what time in the night, he (Hogg) made this claim? Cheteshwar Pujara and Prithvi Shaw have styles that are entirely opposite. One is an outright stroke player (Shaw) while the other is an outstanding defender, especially against the new ball (Pujara). Prithvi Shaw’s technique is such that he plays his strokes rather freely and he plays all kinds of shots.”

Pujara has been in the spotlight for his below-par run in the longest format of late. The senior batsman has scores of 8,15, 17, 0, 21, 7, 73 and 15 in his past 5 Test matches. He also failed to deliver in the World Test Championship final, where India lost to New Zealand by 8 wickets.

It is to be noted that Pujara was dropped for the opening Test against England on the previous tour and the team management can surprise the fans again if he doesn’t perform well.

As for Shaw, he is in Sri Lanka and can’t replace Pujara. Though a report in The Times of India recently suggested that he could be called in to replace Shubman Gill, who is suffering from an injury. The India-England Test series kicks off on August 4. The visitors will play a couple of practice matches before the start of the international fixtures